In place for three years, the global agreement will harness the strength of each company’s world-leading brands and unique expertise in materials processing and materials characterization. Under the terms of the agreement NETZSCH will standardize on Malvern’s particle sizing and characterization equipment, primarily the Mastersizer 3000 laser diffraction particle size analyzer. Customers and prospective customers of each company will gain access both to the extensive milling knowledge of the NETZSCH teams and to the particle sizing know-how of Malvern Instruments. This combined approach supports the further development of solutions and services to meet increasingly specific individual customer needs.

“This cooperation between two well-established, global companies provides real opportunities for both of us to benefit from the collective expertise, experience and market understanding that underpins each business,” said Paul Walker, Malvern’s managing director. “Both organizations share a philosophy of offering the best solution tailored to the customer’s specific requirements, and indeed the development of new solutions for particle characterization in the milling process will be a focal point of the agreement. We will work together closely to help our customers optimize their milling processes and product quality and to extend the limits of the technology.”

Dimitrios Makrakis, managing director of the NETZSCH Grinding & Dispersing Business Unit, added, “Particle characterization is becoming more and more important for fine grinding down to the submicron or nanometer range because product properties so often depend directly on particle size. The correct and reproducible analysis of particle size is a prerequisite for process optimization and quality control. As Malvern is a world leading manufacturer in particle and materials characterization we have the ideal partner to deliver the best overall solution for both grinding technology and particle characterization and clients of both companies will benefit from this partnership.”

Initially, Malvern Mastersizer 3000 systems will be installed in NETZSCH demonstration and test laboratories in key territories around the world - Germany, U.S., Brazil, China, Korea, India, and Russia. All trials, demonstrations, and toll-production carried out by NETZSCH on customers’ materials in NETZSCH facilities will be routinely tested using Malvern instrumentation, with Malvern’s applications experts in each territory available to support the understanding and interpretation of data, as required. Jointly organized seminars and other initiatives will be targeted at key market sectors to deliver valuable information and support to customers and potential customers of either or both companies.